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      <h1 class="p-name">Can computers think?</h1>
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      Thinking is a non-trivial process to make a computer develop one. In
      its true essence “thinking” is what a being is capable of. A…
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            <h3 name="bbbc" id="bbbc" class="graf graf--h3 graf--leading graf--title">Can computers think?</h3>
            <p name="20b6" id="20b6" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h3 graf--trailing">Thinking is a non-trivial
              process. To make a computer &#39;think’ is thus a non-trivial problem. In its true essence thinking is
              what a <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">being</em> is capable of. A sophisticated process which
              involves past knowledge and <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">free will</em>. Experiments involving
              thoughtful actions can be used to differentiate a machine from human.<br>Computers cannot spawn a <em
                class="markup--em markup--p-em">thought-process</em> like humans.</p>
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            <h4 name="b9b0" id="b9b0" class="graf graf--h4 graf--leading"><strong
                class="markup--strong markup--h4-strong">Any form of computation is mechanical and doesn’t
                need thinking</strong></h4>
            <p name="3f43" id="3f43" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">If
                computers can think then what qualities would they express or possess?</em><br>They would converge to a
              decision based on experiences and presuppositions. There would be a bias in its choices for rationality
              may not always be an outcome.<br><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">What is thinking, where does it
                originate, and how does it perpetuate?</em><br>Thought, as a random occurrence in our mind, should have
              a simpler<br>circuitry for computers. Can computers rewire their thoughts by manipulating its programs to
              decide and make choices through their own <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">free will</em>? This process
              may not have a finite number of steps. This discussion hints at self awareness and most importantly <em
                class="markup--em markup--p-em">consciousness</em>. Consciousness in simpler terms means self-awareness.
              The computers becoming self-aware of its existence cannot happen unless programmed to do so. To program
              this, a programmer would have to define cases as to what constitutes consciousness and specify when can we
              arrive at a result to indicate that a being <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">is</em> conscious. This
              may not be an exhaustive list and hence a futile attempt in making computers <em
                class="markup--em markup--p-em">aware</em>.<br><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">What is consciousness
                and how are thoughts related to it?</em><br>When we say that a computer can think and take actions, we
              say that<br>it does with minimal programming or human intervention. It can sense the surroundings through
              its sensors, interpret the physical quantities and formulate actions based on experience.</p>
            <p name="8886" id="8886" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">What makes a
                computer, thoughtful?</em></p>
            <p name="025c" id="025c" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--trailing">An example that could be thought
              here is of a lawn mower. It cuts down<br>grass to keep a garden tidy. So, a lawn mower operated by a
              gardener would just cut down whatever it can get in its way — insects, grass, weed, flowers, anything and
              everything. The onus is on the gardener to control its movement and how much time it spends at a
              particular location. A further advancement to this machine is — whether it can operate in a certain area
              without gardener’s involvement. The gardener’s task is only to fix the boundaries for the mower to
              operate. The mower is now capable of measuring distance from its starting point and gauge the area of
              operation. Also, the gardener may fix operational hours and just let it be. This mower now operates under
              certain program but still cannot make decisions on which grass to cut, whether to skip any earthworms, and
              mow parts depending on a optimal path. The mower with an autonomous computer that could think, would have
              to think like a gardener. For example, the gardener senses environment around them and mows based on
              external factors such as weather and soil conditions. To achieve this same result as the gardener, the
              machine would have to rewire and register memories of new events and pictures of the environment around
              it. It needs to think and assess surroundings; to not get in contact with any insect or human. What
              happens when unknown conditions in environment affects the machine? Would it know when to stop and
              restart? Can it make a decision on its own? Can machine understand and allocate for its own survival and
              longevity? Can a machine consider itself as a living being and take action to nurture itself and avoid
              conflict with nature for its survival? The programming of a machine and its dynamic wiring to make a
              choice or action depends on this process of thinking known as a <em
                class="markup--em markup--p-em">thought-process</em>. It is the key to any problem solving — by using
              one’s experience to pave way for newer solutions. Only by past solution to similar problems can humans
              tend to innovate on solving existing ones. Moreover, after finding a solution how can machine evaluate and
              reassess for its correctness without a verification model designed autonomously?</p>
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            <h4 name="6fcd" id="6fcd" class="graf graf--h4 graf--leading"><strong
                class="markup--strong markup--h4-strong">Turing test and its effectiveness</strong></h4>
            <p name="2628" id="2628" class="graf graf--p graf-after--h4"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Is the
                Turing test[1] meaningful and valid?</em></p>
            <p name="41b8" id="41b8" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--trailing">Turing suggested that if a
              computer and a human being were hidden behind a screen, and another human being were given the task of
              interrogating each of them, it would be reasonable to conclude that the computer was conscious if the
              interrogator could not distinguish it from the human being [4]. There have been many variations of the
              Turing test proposed over years, some by Turing himself, and there are annual contests based on Turing
              test. Thus far, no computer has passed the Turing test (by general consensus), although some have come
              close. Several plausible characteristics have been proposed — free will, restricted access (only the
              thinker experiences his thoughts), incorrigibility (only the thinker knows with certainty the content of
              his thought), qualia (raw sensory experience), etc [2]</p>
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                  src="assets/img/Turing_Test.png">
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              <figcaption class="imageCaption">The “standard interpretation” of the Turing Test, in which player
                C,<br>the interrogator, is given the task of trying to determine which player — A or B<br>- is a
                computer and which is a human. The interrogator is limited to using the<br>responses to written
                questions to make the determination. (Image adapted from<br>Saygin, 2000[4])</figcaption>
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            <p name="f076" id="f076" class="graf graf--p graf--leading"><strong
                class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">Intentionality behind computation</strong></p>
            <p name="2e0f" id="2e0f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--trailing">The classic argument that
              computation inherently lacks intentionality (meaning) can be inferred from Searle’s Chinese Room analogy
              [3]. Intentionality is a primary characteristic of human mind. The actions are driven by it and thoughts
              are the fuel. In case of a computer, it manifests the intentionality of its programmer. The programmer
              could be another program recursively. Yet, the base program would be the one of a human programmer. So it
              derives the intentionality from a human in principle. Searle concludes through his analogy that
              computation has no intrinsic intentionality, but only secondary intentionality imparted by programmers.
              Thus, computation is not <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">thinking</em>, but a mechanical process.</p>
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            <p name="0944" id="0944" class="graf graf--p graf--leading"><strong
                class="markup--strong markup--p-strong">References</strong><br>[1] A.M Turing, Computing Machinery and
              Intelligence, Mind, Volume LIX, Issue 236, October 1950, Pages 433–460<br>[2] Michael Egnor, Can a
              Computer Think?, Evolution News, March 2011</p>
            <p name="a00f" id="a00f" class="graf graf--p graf-after--p graf--trailing">[3] Searle, John. R. Minds,
              brains, and programs. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3 (3): 417–457<br>[4] Saygin, A.P.; Cicekli, I.;
              Akman, V. Turing Test: 50 Years Later, Minds and Machines, 10 (4): 463–518</p>
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